‘I won’t make a scene… I’ll make a Broadway musical!’ is one of a number of strange lines in Dennie Gordon’s 2003 teen movie vehicle for Amanda Bynes. Somehow based on a 1955 play called The Reluctant Debutante, this fish-out-of-water comedy enjoyed ‘mixed’ reviews and ‘moderate’ success according to Wikipedia, but resurfaces in the streaming age as a gawp-fest for those interested in slumming acting talent and off-kilter observations about Britishness.
Lord Dashwood (Colin Firth) is a British politician who is likely to become Prime Minister, even though he’s not actually a member of the House of Commons. His surprisingly vague campaign comprises of large bill-hoardings with a picture of him smiling, with just the words “Lord Dashwood’ written underneath, although a late details reveals that he’s standing for the “Constituency’ party, in case you thought he was running for the BNP or QAnon. Dashwood’s campaign is thrown into disarray when his long lost daughter Daphne (Bynes) turns up on the doorstep of his palatial home, a jolt in particular for Dashwood’s fiancée (Anna Chancellor). Does Dashwood’s spin-doctor and manager Alistair Payne (2020 Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce) know anything about where Daphne has sprung from?
What A Girl Wants takes place in the kind of Merrie England that’s familiar from rich texts like Garfield 2; A Tale of Two Kitties, where the royal family, or at least lookalikes, are everywhere, and staid, stuffy Brits just can’t wait for American teenagers to crash their parties and show them how to dance; pop culture iconoclast Holly Valance’s forgotten hit Kiss Kiss gets a brief outing on a very random soundtrack here. There’s also an extended and somewhat shoe-horned-in product-placement for breakfast cereal Coco Pops; the main characters are seen consuming, enjoying, and discussing the enjoyable nature of their consumption of the cereal at several junctures.
What A Girl Wants is, as the title suggests, wish–fulfilment, and not to be taken seriously or internally. Yet there’s something engaging about the clueless portraying of British politics and class-snobbery, particularly given that the original play was written by a Prime Minister’s brother; for a film that gets so much wrong, and the New York locations must be the most fancifully pathetic in any major studio film, it’s clear that the film-makers’ hearts are in the right place, even if every single detail of the film is notably wide of the mark.
Amanda Bynes was a big part of my childhood ever since my brother and I watched The Amanda Show. I expected more from What a Girl Wants, but it ultimately fell short for me. The stuffy Brits meet American party animal thing doesn’t really work for me. It is much better than Garfield 2, but that isn’t the highest bar. In terms of guilty pleasure Amanda movies, my favorite will always be She’s the Man.
Fully agree, She’s The Man is her best, and I get that Bynes hada big and adoring following back in the day.
I do, however, take umbrage at your slam on Garfield 2; give it another look! A misunderstood gem!
https://film-authority.com/2021/09/20/garfield-2-a-tale-of-two-kitties/
The only positive thing I’ll say about A Tale of Two Kitties is that it was better than the first movie.
P.S. I find it very… interesting that you liked Garfield 2 more than Paddington 2.
Didn’t like Paddington 1, or Garfield 1, but the sequels were better. Still not good enough for me to certify Paddington 2 as fresh, I really don’t like the bear’s re-design….(bolt of lightning strikes me down)
Proof that any number of British thesps will take the doesh at any opportunity. Can’t really blame them for that, the state the British cinema has been in for decades.
I guess it’s better being seen on the big screen in this than on the broo.
Some might well have been on the Bru as well.
Never heard of this. I thought you’d made it up when you started talking about Coco Pops. I haven’t seen them in these parts. We have Cocoa Puffs. Cocoa Bird is cukoo over his Cocoa Puffs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ngijRtwV4
Personally, I take my cue from Tony the Tiger, who fronts for Frosties, and Ricicles, which would can get in white and black chocolate. Always the first to go in a selection pack. You could import them.
Tony and I go way back. I knew him when he was a cub.
Isn’t he a cartoon character?
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Aren’t we all?
Bad things or cartoons?
What happened to Fraggle today? No pictures?
Both.
She posted fresh pics a couple of days ago, then said she was heading off down South I think. Still found time to recommend All Quiet on the Western Front in the comments, so all seems well.
I see. All quiet on the Newcastle front then. Off to do evening bins myself.
Is it unusual to do them alone?